Reader and guest week is off and running at Canes and Coffee. In addition to this great guest article, the first reader article from David Miller today can also be found HERE.
About the Author
Bob Wage (Twitter=@CanesEdge) has been writing hockey-related articles for over 10 years and has contributed to sites such as The Hockey News, The Fourth Period, and Fadoo.com. He is most noted for his creation and management of CanesCountry.com as well as its successful partnering and alliance with SBNation.com. Wage is currently working on Canes Edge, a new project he hopes will be another respectable and go-to source of news for hockey fans.
New ownership as a game-changer in terms of attendance
Understandably, much has been said recently about the pending sale of the Hurricanes to an investment group led by lawyer, Chuck Greenberg. We can all assume that there will be some changes coming for the Canes when/if the sale is completed, internally and externally.
In one article, the News & Observer mentioned possible changes like a new practice rink and more effort in growing the game in the area. While these things are important, I believe that the last thing mentioned in the article is the most significant. The Hurricanes need to rebuild their bond with the community as well as with their former season ticket-holding fans.
A positive relationship between the ownership of any sports franchise and the corresponding fan base is vital to its success. That has been missing here in Carolina for some time now.
While Caniacs have always been grateful to Peter Karmanos for moving this team to Carolina and for his help in winning the Cup in 2006, the relationship between fans and the owner has been less than positive for several years. For instance, it seems like after every press conference or interview, (and they have been rare of late), the owner has said something to irritate fans. From throwing Peter Laviolette under the bus after firing him, to poking fun at Jim Rutherford for acquiring Phil Kessel in Pittsburgh, and then for repeatedly telling fans to be patient, Karmanos has not exactly been “bonding” with the community lately nor has he necessarily been correct in his criticisms or assessments.
Once it was reported that the team was for sale, an already tenuous relationship grew even worse and attendance fell off the map. The Hurricanes went from 17th in the league with average attendance of 17,558 per game in 2012-13 to last in the league at 11,776 last season.
Current President of Gale Force Holdings, Don Waddell, said that the club underwent a new policy of giving away fewer freebies a couple of years ago which helped lead to a decline in the numbers, but they were not giving away 6,000 tickets a game back then.
Coincidentally or not, the biggest drop in ticket sales came after it became public that the team was on the block. While Gary Bettman can say 1,000 times over that the club is not moving anywhere, fans saw the Atlanta Thrashers pack and move almost over-night, without any warning and felt the same could happen here. Why invest in tickets when you don’t know what is going to happen with the club? I was personally asked that question more than once by former season ticket holders that I know.
There can be little doubt that the uncertainty of the future ownership of the Hurricanes adversely affected sales and once that uncertainty is gone, ticket sales will go up automatically, regardless of any other factors. And if Greenberg is half the promoter and wannabe partner of fans that his reputation says that he is, that will only help.
This community is craving for a sports entity to get behind, as evidenced by the large and energetic crowd that gathered downtown in support of soccer this past week. If the promotions are handled correctly, the new owner(s) of the Hurricanes can capture that same spirit and energy.
Combine an improved product on the ice along with exciting new ownership (which will clear the cloud of uncertainty hovering over the franchise), and this coming season will be a busy one at the PNC Arena.
Peter Karmanos loves hockey, from bantams to the NHL, from executive counsel of the NHL to the NHL Hall of Fame. His imprint on Hockey is wide and deep. He loves Detroit, from hockey rinks, to hospital wings, to saving the downtown. He has always been all in on the well being of that City. However, Mr. Karmanos has never connected with the Research Triangle. He has operated the Canes more like an absentee landlord than a civic leader. The optics of his ownership include public battles with his oldest set of siblings, firing his son (who ended up working for Jim Rutherford), and hiring Don Waddell (an old Detroit buddy who had just the sent the Thrashers to Canada) all prove him to out of touch with his fan base and local media. His legacy here will be solid, having brought hockey and the Stanley cup to Raleigh. His memory here will also be stained by the last 9 years of failure.
Out of the gate it will be hard for new ownership to not become instantly accepted by the fan base as an improvement. There will be a real honeymoon between the fans here and the face of the new ownership group. A better on the ice product coupled with modern sports marketing strategies will improve attendance. For example, too much bad water had flowed under the dam for Karmanos to improve relationships with print and broadcast media. New ownership will get a chance to move that needle from empty to full. (That there is no advertising for the N&O as part of the game experience is baffling?)
While winning will cure everything, real state of the art marketing will drive the Canes income way above the current level. That income will fuel salaries, pro and amateur scouting staffs, analytics, player development, and training facilities. That investment will shorten, perhaps eliminate future gaps in playoff appearances. My prediction is attendance will grow more from team’s improvements in the standings, and the end of 1950 style sports marketing than just the take over of new ownership. Like the growth of most well run business activities early growth will less than expected and later growth will be more than expected.
IMO the local media has been deficient in their coverage of the Canes. In order to gain fan support the media needs to get off the “small market”. “going to move”, “there’s no sport beyond ACC basketball” routines and cover the Canes in a more positive manner. Virtually every article I have ever read about the Canes in the News and Observer has had some negative connotation connected with it. The radio and tv media gives the Canes virtually no coverage other thas reporting the score of a game.
I don’t mean the media needs to be cheerleaders for the Canes, but they should exhibit some local pride in the fact that the franchise is here. Why you ask? The answer is: This franchise brings a player payroll in excess of $50 million dollars plus employs many individuals beyond the player payroll. This is a tremendous spike to the local economy. The presence of a pro sport in the area provides another entertainment outlet that is affordable. The presence of the hockey team has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars raised for charity in the community. The presence of the team has resulted in kids gaining another activity outlet in the various youth hockey leagues with teams getting to participate in tournaments all over North America.
While winning on the ice is important to gaining fan support, it will not be enough unless the local media, and particularly the sports media, gives the franchise a fair shake by treating the team as an asset to the community rather than an intruder to the beloved ACC basketball world. I like ACC basketball and support it and proud of our area’s basketball reputation, but I also am an avid Canes fan. I am just as interested in players like Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm, etc. who have been part of our community for years as I am for some college basketball player who is here for a year or two and move on.
As an extra on the bio for context, Bob started Canes Country as an independent site roughly a dozen years ago. For those who have worked with web sites only for the past 5-6 years in the era of WordPress, templates and plug ins, I cannot tell you how impressive his feat was back in a time when you had to write code and dig through technical details to build and maintain an independent website.
This is an aside to the focus of the article but it is sale-based.
I have been very skeptical of the news of a sale – what was said,the way it came out. Things didn’t sound solid.
Chip Alexander wrote today that Greenberg is in town and looking at facilities. So I am becoming more comfortable that there is an actual process in place, regardless of outcome.
For me that is a positive place to be. 🙂